The "Brown wire" mod explanation...

Hi All,

Firstly, can I apologise to the seasoned X1/9 owners if this has been done to death but I was wondering if someone could give me a laymans explanation of the "Brown Wire" modification and how easy it is to do on a late '87 Bertone X1/9.
I have read up and found a great tutorial about the dipped beam relay modification. I have ordered some parts and am looking forward to doing this shortly.

From my findings, I believe it's the same problem except it involves the power to the ignition switch and starter. Does the mod simply involve adding a thicker cable or is there another relay mod involved?
Is the theory of this mod to share the load by using a second cable?
I hear that it provides some great benefits like improving light brightness, wiper speed and preventing switch burnout.

Thanks in advance,

Gareth.

Hi Gareth,
There are a couple of great articles in back editions of the club mag. Autumn 2022 and Spring 2023 mags have a couple of detailed articles about this.
You can access old copies of the mag from the home page. Select the current mag and then scroll down until you find the one you are after.

Cheers
Andy

.....brilliant!
Thanks Andy......I'm on it...!!

.....oooh!.....just tried to access those back copies and it says I need to log in even though I am logged in.
Can admin help?

Gareth.

Ahh, I do not rate the "Brown wire mod" at all!
It is an easy to do "help" for part of the car's circuits, but
it allows improved current flow through the elderly and fragile lighting switches, fuse box and connectors , in other words, more stress.
I should really do a more in depth article for the club magazine on all this although I touched on these points in my headlamp relays article.
It is worth taking a step back and thinking where are the stress areas in our elderly cars.
In other words, how often do you use your heated rear screen? I only used it once - driving back in the rain from the recent Castle Comb club event, so any help for that circuit would not IMHO be a good use of time or relays etc.
The headlamps on the other hand are on every time the car is out in the rain or poor light.
I reason the relays for the wipers are to help the awful wiper speed.
I reason the relays for the windows speed them up - nice!
I reckon the starter switch may benefit due to the poor old ignition switch and contorted path the circuit takes.
It is down to how much you wish to add things to your car, cost, time and effectiveness from that work.
.

Hi Alan.....again, sage advice that I will take.

Huge thanks,

Gareth.

Hi Gareth,
Just checked and you can't access the magazines because you're not a club member. Only registered on the website.

Cheers
Andy

......I'd like to get that sorted if I could and become a club member Andy.

Gareth.

Hi Gareth,

PM sent to you.

Cheers
Andy